Night-time dizziness

Okay, I hope this doesn't sound too weird. I really haven't done any research yet, so please bare with me if I'm asking very repetitive questions.

First, I don't feel like whatever I have is a very big deal... like I'll probably not go to the doctor about it because 1) it only happens every so often...maybe 1 or 2x a month or so, and 2) because I don't have insurance at the moment.

So far, it has always happened at night, and usually when I'm really really tired. I try to close my eyes and go to sleep, but when I close my eyes, it feels like the room is spinning all around me and I get that sick-to-my stomach feeling, I also don't have what I'd consider shortness of breath, but I do notice more of an effort in breathing, maybe ever so slight chest tightness or something when this happens. Some times, opening my eyes makes the spinning sensation go away, but sometimes it doesn't.

Also, if I wake up in the middle of the night or even sometimes in the morning when I get up, I don't feel dizzy anymore, but will walk crooked...like at an angle, nearly bumping into a wall! lol (but my sister has also experienced this every once in a while, so maybe this is a normal thing when people are really tired and get up? lol)

I'm more curious than anything, and am wondering if this is something others of you experience as well, and also if any of you have any ideas what this could be?

Just a little extra about me- --- hardly ever get ear infections (maybe 3 or 4 in my 23 years), blood pressure of around 90-100/60-70, not on any medications and do not have any kind of health problem other than slight lactose intolerance, seborrheic dermatitis, and tendonitis.

Is this spinning severe? Does it come on as soon as you lie down or after a while? Does it persist if you stay in the same position or does it subside after few secs/few mins/xx? You mention once or twice a month. Is there a pattern other than feeling particularly tired? Something you ate, did, stress, etc?

You don't have any feelings of dizziness, off-balance, nausea, trouble focusing, anything that resembles motion sickness other than those episodes when you go to sleep?

a few times it has been severe enough that I felt like I would throw up and a few times it is just a sickening sensation. It usually comes on soon after I lie down, but doesn't seem to get better/worse if I change position, except maybe if I tip my head back more it does feel a bit worse then. The other night when it happened I went to bed around 11:45 but couldn't fall asleep until close to 1:30 because of the sick feeling.

I've always been a "fainter"-- at the sight of blood, if my stomach hurts, even when I get the flu or a bad cold I usually also have dizziness/eyes hurt. When that happens though, its more of light a clammy, sweaty feeling as opposed to what's been happneing lately at night, which is less of a fainting feeling and more of just a spinning sick feeling that doesn't go away as fast.

And yes, it has been just when I'm tired and trying to go to sleep. I can't seem to figure out anything I did, ate, or stress that would have caused it.

Are you sensitive to motion at all? Get seasick easily, carsick, anything like that?

Your dizziness/eye pain when you get a cold: do you ever feel anything like that when you're in a crowded, busy place, big store?

I'm really not sure what to say here; I pretty much only know about BPPV in any detail and it doesn't sound like that's what you have. There are others here this might sound more familiar to.

It does sound like it might be a vestibular issue. When you lie down and close your eyes, you're losing one part of your body (vision) that's helping you determine where you are in space so you're relying only on your ears and body. Also, many people here say that having a cold makes their symptoms worse. Your eye pain may be caused by having to work harder during a cold because it's affecting your ear somehow. But I'm just guessing.

Hopefully someone else can be more helpful than me. I would go to the Dr when you can though, get checked out and have them take a look at your ears.

Sipa~~~ Yes, I do get motion sickness quite easily (but oddly, I'm one of the few ppl I know of who gets car sick but can read while in the car...for me, I get car sick when looking out at the passing trees, or if trying to fall asleep.

Busy stores don't seem to do anything, but I do very often feel that dizzy feeling when I go to Home Depot and Lowe's (lol, I know that sounds realllllllly silly). I just thought it was the lumber smell or something getting to me, lol, but maybe it is because it is so tall and huge. I don't know. I told my dad I get dizzy going to Home Depot, and he thinks it's my way of trying to hurry him up

I'll have to do some research on Meniere's, sammi2. I don't have any hearing loss that I know of, and just rarely have ringing in the ears of late.

I remember once, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I was having some stomach pain (kinda like an air bubble or something). Anyways, I told me mom, who said to drink some water (her cure all). As soon as I went out to the kitchen and had a sip of water, I got incredibly dizzy and told my mom I thought I was going to pass out. Even though I was leaning on the countertop, I still passed out (she caught me). I was then really sweaty and clammy and got a quick shower before going to the hospital (I was soon going to be getting my driver's licence, and my mom wanted to make sure I was okay). The doctor who saw me basically just said there's a nerve that goes from the stomach up to the brain (vagus nerve?) and some people just seem more sensative to stuff-- blood, stomach pain...-- and kind of rudely said, "just wait til you get pregnant---you'll be fainting all the time!" and then walked off. Another time, a few years before this, I went to the doctor because of feeling dizzy often, and he had me lie down one way, get up quickly, then lie back down on the other side and get up again...I forget if he said anything was wrong, but it just kinda faded away. So maybe I'm just sensative to motion and have a funky vagus nerve, lol

Getting dizzy in the "big box" stores is pretty common for people with vestibular disorders. So no, it doesn't sound silly at all. I'm not a doctor, of course, but from what you're saying it sounds like it you're having visual issues. Not in the "you need glasses" sense.

I'm not sure what's causing your dizziness but it's likely you could benefit from vestibular rehab exercises, especially for your visual stuff. There's a lot of links in the stickies here, check those out, and maybe try some, see how you're doing with them.

It's often said that you have to get worse before you get better with the VRTs, but then there's also MAV where the VRTs apparently don't help much or can make things worse (?). I'm not an expert on MAV, I'm sure someone else can give you some feedback on that.

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Another time, a few years before this, I went to the doctor because of feeling dizzy often, and he had me lie down one way, get up quickly, then lie back down on the other side and get up again...I forget if he said anything was wrong, but it just kinda faded away.

That's the test for BPPV. If you don't remember getting dizzy from that, or that he told you that's what you have, then most likely it's not the issue.

Well, I had another episode last night, not severe spinning, just a general yucky feeling, both in my head and a bit in my stomach...made me almost want to cry because I just wanted to go to sleep, yet my eyes bothered me so much.

I'm thinking perhaps it's also related to computer use? I am in front of a computer nearly all day. I am nearsighted with a strong astigmatism and wear glasses for that. The only reason I'm thinking maybe it's computer related is 1) For a break, I just sat down and played a game of Mahjong Tiles, and my eyes almost immediately hurt, and 2) Even right now, when I'm not physicall tired at all, I feel like my eye area is tight or something. I've also got a tension headache (I think at least-- the kind were it feels like if only you could relax you'd feel fine) ...Maybe it's sinus related...lol, of maybe I'm just a huge hypocondriac! lol *rolls eyes* I'm going to try to do all the things that make sense when at the computer-- take short breaks to look away from the screen, change the brightness to make it less bright...stuff like that. I really hope this goes away soon.